Imam Ali’s Great Knowledge

[أبو الحسنيين]

IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE THE MERCIFUL

IMAM ALI’S GREAT KNOWLEDGE


1. One Day a person came to Imam Ali (A.S.), thinking that since Ali thinks he is too smart, I'll ask him such a tough question that he won't be able to answer it and I'll have the chance to embarrass him in front of all the Arabs.

He asked "Ali, tell me a number, that if we divide it by any number from 1-10 the answer will always come in the form of a whole number and not as a fraction."

Imam Ali Looked back at him and said, "Take the number of days in a year and multiply it with the number of days in a week and you will have your answer."

The person got astonished but as he was an unbeliever he still didn't believe Ali (A.S.). He calculated the answer Ali (AS) gave him. To his amazement he came across the following results:

The number of Days in a Year = 360 (in Hijri Lunar Calendar)

The Number of Days in a Week = 7

The product of the two numbers = 2520

Now : 2520? 1 = 2520

2520? 2 = 1260

2520? 3 = 840

2520? 4 = 630

2520? 5 = 504

2520? 6 = 420

2520? 7 = 360

2520? 8 = 315

2520? 9 = 280

2520? 10= 252

2. One day a person came to Imam Ali (A.S.). He was planning to ask Ali (A.S.) such a question which would take Ali (A.S.) a long time to answer and because of that his Maghrib Prayers would be delayed. He asked, "Ali you say you know everything in the world, then tell me which animals lay eggs and which animals give birth to their young ones"

Imam Ali (A.S.) looked back at him smiled and said, "The animals which have their 'EARS' outside their body give birth to their young ones and the animals which have their 'EARS' inside their body lay eggs."

3. It is said that two gentlemen were travelling together. They carried their lunch with them. One of them had five loaves and the other had three. After some time they felt hungry and sat down to eat. Another man passed by. He too was hungry, but he had no food. They asked him to join them. They shared their loaves and ate their meal. Afterwards, the stranger gave them eight pieces of money to pay for his share of the food and thanking them, he departed.

The man who had five loaves took five pieces of money and gave the other three pieces to his friend. But the friend thought that he should have half the money. They began to argue. At last, they decided to let Imam Ali settle the case.
When they had told Imam Ali the whole story, he said, "Let the owner of the five loaves take seven pieces of money and the owner of the three loaves take one piece."

The simple men could not understand this judgement. They were told to think about how much each man had eaten and how much each had given to the stranger. Dividing each of the eight loaves into three shares gave twenty-four portions. As they all had eaten the same amount, they all had eight portions. It was obvious; therefore, that the man with three loaves had only one portion to give to the stranger, and the man with five loaves had seven portions left to give to their guest.
4. A person was about to die, and before dying he wrote his Will which went as follows:

"I have 17 Camels, and I have three sons. Divide my Camels in such a way that My eldest son gets half of them, the second one gets 1/3rd of the total and my youngest son gets 1/9th of the total number of Camels, after his death when the relatives read his will they got extremely perplexed and said to each other that how can we divide 17 camels like this?
So after a long hard thought they decided that there was only one man in Arabia who could help them: Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, so they all came to the door of Imam Ali (A.S.) and put forward their problem.
Imam Ali (A.S.) said, "Ok. I will divide the camels as per the man's will."
He said, "I will lend one of my camels to the total which makes it 18 (17+1=18), now lets divide as per his will"

The Eldest gets 1/2 of 18 = 9
the second one gets 1/3 of 18 = 6
and The Youngest gets 1/9 of 18 = 2
Now the total number of camels = 17
Then Imam Ali (A.S.) said, "Now I will take my Camel back."
This was the genius that Imam Ali was in his time.

5. Imam Ali once replied to a group of ten learned men who said, "We seek your permission for putting a question to you."

Imam Ali replied, "You are at perfect liberty."

They said, "Of knowledge and wealth, which is better and why. Please give a separate answer to each of us."

Imam Ali answered in ten parts:

1. Knowledge is the legacy of the Prophets; wealth is the inheritance of the Pharaohs. Therefore, knowledge is better than wealth.

2. You are to guard your wealth but knowledge guards you. Therefore, knowledge is better.

3. A man of wealth has many enemies, while a man of knowledge has many friends. Hence, knowledge is better.

4. Knowledge is better because it increases with distribution, while wealth decreases by that act.

5. Knowledge is better because a learned man is apt to be generous while a wealthy person is apt to be miserly.

6. Knowledge is better because it cannot be stolen while wealth can be stolen.

7. Knowledge is better because time cannot harm knowledge but wealth rusts in course of time and wears away.

8. Knowledge is better because it is boundless while wealth is limited and you can keep account of it.

9. Knowledge is better because it illuminates the mind while wealth is apt to blacken it.

10. Knowledge is better because it induced the humanity in our Prophet to say to GOD.

[أبو الحسنيين]

IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE THE MERCIFUL

“Mohamed, the Messenger of Allah and those who are with him are strong against unbelievers, but compassionate amongst each other”.
Holy Quran -48-29.
*The Great Companions of the Blessed Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
*ABU DHAR AL GHIFARI


In the Waddan valley which connects the holy city of Makkah with the outside world, lived the tribe of Ghifar, the Ghifar existed on the meagre offerings of the trade caravans of the Quraysh which plied between Syria and Makkah. It is likely that they also lived by raiding these caravans when they were not given enough to satisfy their needs.


A Great Man named Jundoub Ibn Junadah and nicknamed Abu Dhar was a member of this tribe, he was known for his courage, his calmness and his far sightedness and also for the repugnance he felt against the idols which his people worshipped. He rejected the silly religious beliefs and the religious corruption, in which the Arabs were engaged, while he was in the Waddan desert, news reached Abu Dhar that a new Prophet had appeared in Makkah, he had wished and fiercely longed that the new appearance of this Blessed Prophet would help to change the hearts and minds of people and lead them away from the darkness of superstition.

And without wasting any time, he called his brother, Anis, and said to him: “Go to Makkah and get whatever news you can of this man who claims that he is a Prophet and that revelation comes to him from the heavens, listen to some of his sayings and come back and recite them to me”. Anis went to Makkah and met the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, he listened to what he had to say and returned to the Waddan desert.

Abu Dhar met him and anxiously asked for news of the Prophet, I have seen a man, reported Anis, who calls people to
Noble qualities and there is no mere poetry in what he says, “What do people say about him?” asked Abu Dhar,
“They say he is a magician, a soothsayer and a poet”, “My curiosity is not satisfied, I am not finished with this matter; Will
You look after my family while I go out and examine this prophet’s mission myself?” “Yes, But beware of the Makkans”.

On his arrival at Makkah, Abu Dhar immediately felt very apprehensive and he decided to exercise great caution. The Quraysh were noticeably angry over the denunciation of their gods. Abu Dhar heard of the terrible violence they were meting out to the followers of the Prophet but this was what he expected. He therefore refrained from asking anyone about the Prophet Mohamed not knowing whether that person might be a follower or an enemy?

At nightfall, he lay down in the Sacred Mosque; Ali Ibn Abi Talib passed by him and, realizing that he was a stranger, asked him to come to his house, Abu Dhar spent the night with him and in the morning took his water pouch and his bag containing provisions and returned to the Mosque , there was no questions and no questions were asked of him, Abu Dhar spent the following day without getting to know the Prophet ,at the evening he went to the Mosque to sleep and Ali again passed by him and said: “Isn't it time that a man knows his house?”, Abu Dhar accompanied him and stayed at his house a second night , and again no one asked the other about anything.

On the third night, however, Ali asked him: “Aren't you going to tell me why you came to Makkah?”, “I will do so but only if you will give me an undertaking that you will guide me to what I seek”, Ali agreed and Abu Dhar said: “I came to Makkah from a distant place seeking a meeting with the new Prophet and to listen to some of what he has to say “, full of joy ,Ali's face lit up with happiness as he said : “By God, he is really the Messenger of God”, and he went on telling Abu Dhar more about the Prophet and his teaching.

Finally, he said: “When we get up in the morning, follow me wherever I go. If I see anything which I am afraid of for your sake, I would stop as if to pass water. If I continue, follow me until you enter where I enter”, Abu Dhar did not sleep a wink the rest of that night because of his intense longing to see the Prophet and listen to the words of revelation. In the morning, he followed closely in Ali's footsteps until they were in the presence of the Prophet.

“Assalam Alaykoum Ya Rassoulalah! (Peace be on you, O Messenger of God),” greeted Abu Dhar,
“Wa Alaykoum salaamullahi wa rahmatuhu wa barakatuhu (And on you be the peace of God, His mercy and His blessings),” replied the Blessed Prophet.

Abu Dhar, thus made history , he had been the first person to greet the Prophet with the greeting of Islam, after that, the greeting spread and came into general use, the Prophet, peace be on him, welcomed Abu Dhar and invited him to Islam. He recited some of the Quran for him, before long, Abu Dhar pronounced the “Shahadah” thus entering the new religion (without even leaving his place). He was among the first persons to accept Islam.

Now, Let us leave Abu Dhar to continue his own story:

After that I stayed with the Blessed Prophet in Makkah and he taught me Islam and taught me to read the Quran. Then he said to me “Don’t tell anyone in Makkah about your acceptance of Islam. I fear that they will kill you,” “ By Him in whose hands is my soul, I shall not leave Makkah until I go to the Sacred Mosque and proclaim the call of Truth in the midst of the Quraysh ”, vowed Abu Dharr. The Prophet remained silent. I went to the Mosque. The Quraysh were sitting and talking. I went in their midst and called out at the top of my voice: “O people of Quraysh, I testify that there is no God but Allah and that Mohamed is his messenger”, my words had an immediate effect on them. They jumped up and said: “Get this one who has left his religion”, they pounced on me and began to beat me mercilessly, in a wicked aim to kill me.